edgepedia

Artists, groups, and people: Arabic pop: Egypt, the Levant, and the Maghreb

86 articles

Mohamed Rushdy

Mohamed Rushdy (محمد رشدي), born Mohamed Abdel Rahman El-Raghy, was an Egyptian folk and shaabi singer (1928–2005) famed for "عدوية" and his radio epic "أدهم الشرقاوي".

Mohammed Abdel Wahab

Mohammed Abdel Wahab (محمد عبد الوهاب) was an Egyptian singer, composer, and actor, born in Cairo in 1902, who modernized Arabic song and composed for Umm Kulthum.

Mostafa Amar

Mostafa Amar, also known as Moustafa Amar (مصطفى قمر), is an Egyptian singer, composer, and actor born in 1966 in Alexandria, a central figure of 1990s jeel-pop.

Myriam Fares

Myriam Fares (ميريام فارس) is a Lebanese singer, dancer, and songwriter born in 1983, known for dance-driven Arabic pop and the 2019 viral hit "Goumi".

Najwa Karam

Najwa Karam (نجوى كرم) is a Lebanese singer and television personality known as Shams El-Ghinnieh, born in Zahle in 1966, with more than twenty albums since 1989.

Nassif Zaytoun

Nassif Zaytoun (نصيف زيتون) is a Syrian pop singer who won season 7 of Star Academy and became known for the 2014 single "Mich Aam Tezbat Maii".

Nour Mhanna

Nour Mhanna, also written Nour Mahanna (نور مهنا), is a Syrian tarab vocalist from Aleppo, born in 1966, best known for reviving Souad Mohammed's "Wahashitni" in the early 1990s.

Oka & Ortega

Oka & Ortega (أوكي وأورتيجا) are an Egyptian mahraganat and electro-shaabi duo from Cairo, formed of Mohamed Salah (Oka) and Ahmed Metwali (Ortega), pioneers of the genre.

Postcards

Postcards are a dream-pop and shoegaze trio from Beirut, Lebanon, formed in 2012, described as Lebanon's longest-running alternative band, blending dream pop, shoegaze, post-punk, and noise.

Rabih Al Assmar

Rabih Al Assmar, also written Rabih Al Asmar, is the stage name of Abdullah Nasr Al-Din, a Lebanese shaabi singer who broke through with the 2004 hit Ghalak.

Riad Al Sunbati

Riad Al Sunbati, also Riad Sonbati (رياض السنباطي), was an Egyptian composer who wrote about 95 songs for Umm Kulthum, including the celebrated "Al Atlal" of 1966.

Rim'K

Rim'K (Abdelkrim Brahmi, born 1978 in Vitry-sur-Seine) is a French-Algerian rapper, a founding member of 113 and Mafia K'1 Fry, and a solo artist since 2004.

Saber El Robaee

Saber El Robaee (صابر الرباعي), also known as Saber Rebaï, is a Tunisian singer born in 1967 in Sfax, best known for his modernized reprise "Sidi Mansour".

Sabri Moudallal

Sabri Moudallal (صبري مدلل, 1918–2006) was a Syrian singer, muezzin, and composer from Aleppo, a master of the muwashshah and of the classical wasla suite.

Somaya Darweesh

Somaya Darweesh (Sumaya Darwish) is an Egyptian singer and actress born in Cairo in 1989, best known for "Al-Ayam" from the 2007 film Kashf Hesab.

Sonia M'Barek

Sonia M'Barek (سنية مبارك), born 1969 in Sfax, Tunisia, is a singer of classical Arabic music credited as the first female malouf performer and minister of culture in 2016.

Suzanne Tamim

Suzanne Tamim (سوزان تميم) was a Lebanese pop singer who rose to fame across the Arab world after winning the Studio El Fan talent show in 1996 and was murdered in Dubai in 2008.

TootArd

TootArd, Arabic for "strawberry," is a band from Majdal Shams in the Golan Heights, founded in 2010 by the Nakhleh brothers and now a genre-fluid duo.

Trio Joubran

Trio Joubran, or Le Trio Joubran, is a Palestinian oud trio of brothers Samir, Wissam, and Adnan Joubran from Nazareth, the world's first professional three-oud ensemble, performing internationally since the mid-2000s.

Walid Toufic

Walid Toufic (وليد توفيق), born Walid Toutounji in 1954 in Tripoli, Lebanon, is a Lebanese singer and oud player known for the party staple 'Enzel Ya Gameel'.

Wust El Balad

Wust El Balad (وسط البلد) is an Egyptian soft-rock and independent band founded in Cairo in 1999, named after Downtown Cairo and blending Arabic music with rock and jazz.

Yosra Saouf

Yosra Saouf, also spelled Yousra Saouf (يسرا سعوف), is a Moroccan singer who rose to fame on Arab Idol in 2013, finishing ninth at age 20.

Zakaria Ghafouli

Zakaria Ghafouli (Zakaria El Ghafouli) is a Moroccan pop singer who modernizes Moroccan heritage styles, from Amazigh melodies to chaabi and rai, and became nationally known with his 2018 hit "Hobino".

Zap Tharwat

Zap Tharwat (زاب ثروت), born Ahmed Tharwat Zaki in 1987, is an Egyptian rapper and songwriter in Cairo who rose with his 2011 revolution songs.

Zouhair Bahaoui

Zouhair Bahaoui (زهير البهاوي) is a Moroccan pop singer and producer born in 1995 in Tétouan, whose Darija-language singles made him a leading artist of the Moroccan pop wave.

روبي (musician)

Ruby (روبي), born Rania Hussein in Cairo in 1981, is an Egyptian pop singer and actress whose controversial 2004 video "Leh Beydary Keda" made her famous as "the bike singer".